Welt construction for shoes and boots



0a. 24, 1950 A. ATLAS 2,526,925

WELT CONSTRUCTION FOR SHOES AND BOOTS Filed Nov. 6, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 an E Mventan Oct. 24, 1950 ATLAS WELT CONSTRUCTION FOR SHOES AND BOOTS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 6, 1947 Oct. 24, 1950 v A. ATLAS WELT CONSTRUCTION FOR SHOES AND BOOTS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 6, 1947 Patented Oct. 24, 1950 2,526,925 WELT CONSTRUCTION FonsHoEs ANDY BOOTS j Arthur Atlas, Leicester, England Application November 6, 1947, Serial No. 784,453 In Great Britain March 4, 1947 This invention relates to shoes and boots.

Although principally intended for application to ladies fashion shoes, the invention is by no means limited in this respect. Accordingly, for

the sake of convenience in the following further description the term shoe will be used in a generic sense to .include any footwear to which the invention may with advantage be applied.

The object of the present invention is to provide improvements in a shoe of the kind includ-v ing a lasted component, that is to say a shoe havin an upper which is lasted and secured to an insole in any conventional manner.

According to the invention there is attached to the lower marginal edge portion of the upper of the improved shoe a flap which is lasted and secured, together with the upper, to the insole suchwise as to provide around the shoe a protruding formation. The idea is that the protuberant formation shall simulate or represent a welt.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood and readily carried into practical effect, a particular illustrative embodiment thereof applied to a ladies shoe will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the shoe upper as it appears before lasting and with the flap attached thereto,

Figure 2 is a somewhat similar perspective view of the same but with the flap turned down prior to the lasting operation,

Figure 3 is a general perspective view of the finished shoe,

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of so much of the shoe as is necessary to illustrate the invention, the said shoe being shown in the lasting position upon a last, and

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view of the toe end of the finished shoe showing more clearly the manner in which the flap is attached and lasted.

Like parts are designated by similar reference characters throughout the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the upper and the insole are indicated by the numerals I and 2 respectively. As shown, the upper I is substantially un-lined, although it may of course be lined if desired. The upper is fitted with a toe stiffener 3 and a heel stiffener 4, and is made in any conventional manner from shaped pieces of leather suitably stitched together. In this particular example the upper I is made so as to be continuous right around the shoe. In accordance with the 1 Claim. (Cl. 36 19.5)

welt constructions for characteristic feature of the present invention, a single piece band 5 of the same leather from which] the upper is made and measuring, say, approximately 2 ""vvidth is applied inside out to the upper I and stitched to the latter by lines 6 of stitching (see Figure 1'). The band thus completely surrounds the upper, in the form of a flap, with its flesh side outermost, and with the parallel securing lines 6 of stitching inserted adjacent to the lower edge of the band at a location spaced /2' or a little more from the lower edge ofthe upper. As shown in Figure 1, the ends 5 of the band 5 just overlap. Applied to the said flesh side of the band 5 so as completely to embrace the same and cover the lines 6 of stitching is a filler strip I of cork or similar material in width. The foregoing dimensions are quoted merely by way of example and may be varied according to requirements. For the sake of convenience and clarity, in Figure 1 only a portion of the filler strip I is shown in full lines, the remainder of the said strip being indicated in dot-and-dash lines. The insole 2 is made of leather and as shown in Figure 4 is initially prepared by splitting the waist and heel seat portions thereof suchwise as to provide superimposed separate layers 8 and 9 between which is secured a Wedge-shaped internal heel or elevator I D of cork. The actual heel seat portion of the internal heel or elevator is recessed to receive a correspondingly shaped insert I I of sponge rubber which is secured in position, by adhesive, beneath the split layer 9 of the insole. Similarly. the underside of the internal heel or elevator I0 is recessed at the back to receive an appropriately shaped piece of plywood I2 which is secured in position above the split layer 8 of the insole 2 (regarding the shoe in its normal position of wear). The combined insole and heel or elevator so prepared is then applied to the bottom of a last such as that indicated in dot-and-chain lines at IS in Figure 4. At this stage the upper I with the attached flap 5 is drawn onto the said last, the flap having previously been turned down to cover the filler strip I in the manner depicted Figure 2, whereupon the upper and the flap are lasted to the insole. In this way the heel or elevator IE! is located within the lasted component before the last is slipped, and the flap 5, which is reversed so that its grain face is now presented outermost is drawn tightly around the enclosed filler strip I to produce a flange-like protuberant formation F of the character hereinbefore described. In the particular example illustrated the inturned edges of the upper I and of the flap 3 5 are secured to the insole 2 by stitching I I, at the forepart of the shoe and by means of tacks such as [5 at the heel end.

The shoe is finished by the application of an outer sole l6 to which may, if desired, be attached a single heel lift H. The aforementioned insert l2 of plywood serves to receive the inner ends of the securing elements I8 by which such heel lift I1 is secured.

The invention is also applicable to a shoe wherein the upper is discontinuous, for example where, as in a sandal or the like, one or more portions of the upper is or are omitted to leave an opening or openings at the sides or/and at the heel end of the article. In such an application, the flap is still secured to, and lasted to the insole together with, upper material which latter is, however, cut away at the location or locations concerned to provide the opening or openings.

If desired, upper material cut away for this purpose may be in-turned and secured in any suitable manner to the top of the insole.

Manifestly the improved shoe may, if desired, be made without the filler strip 1.

What I claim then is:

In a shoe having an outer sole, an inner sole and a lasted upper, the lower marginal portion of the lasted upper being turned inwardly and secured beneath said inner sole; an elongated flap attached to the lower outer portion of said lasted upper by a row of stitching disposed at a level spaced upwardly a predetermined distance remote from the lasting edge in order to be spaced above the feather edge or crease upon said lasted upper, the flap being folded over outwardly adjacent to the row of stitching whence it extends downwardly to the sole and is folded inwardly at the bottom upon said sole beneath said inner sole and the inwardly turned lower marginal portion of said lasted upper in such manner that said flap forms about the shoe an upwardly extending protuberant formation upon said sole about the lower portion of said lasted upper.

ARTHUR ATLAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

